And as to our weaknesses and infirmities, he is there to plead for his people: "Who also maketh intercession for us." Is he exalted? The liberating message of Romans 8 is that God never intended man to live the Christian life by his own efforts and in his own strength. But the greatness of our talents is only the amount of our debt; for, the more we have, the more we owe. Lecture 1: A Chat about Commentaries. Hark! Can you now detect in your calling, the hand of God, and the voice of God? It is simply "Look!" A man might as well try to dispute him out of the fact of his existence as out of that equally sure fact that he has been born again, and that by gracious adoption he has been taken into the family of God. If I promulgated the doctrine on my own authority, I could not blame you if you should turn against me, and reject it; but when, on the authority of Holy Scripture, I propound it, God forbid that any man should quarrel therewith. I think it was Bishop Hall who once said, "I thank God I am not of his counsels, but I am of his court." It is Christ that died." His interpretation of it is a groan, and that is all. And these appear to be four at least. I want to sit down, and suck all the sweetness out of this blessed truth: "It is Christ that died." They bare their backs, the rod scourgeth them. O ye first-born whose names are written in heaven, I take my seat with you and join your rapturous adoration. What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory. Or, read you that old legend of Curtius, the Roman knight. I have been astonished in looking though old Roman history at the wonderful prodigies of integrity and valour which were produced by idolatry, or rather, which were produced by patriotism, and that principle which ruled the Romans, namely, love of fame. Out of stock. methinks I see the martyrs and confessors rising from their tombs I mark their hands still stained with blood, and their bodies scarred with the wound of persecution. Yes, that is quite true, and it would be a great mercy for you if you knew how to groan in the same way. My cause is quite safe in his hands, especially when I remember again that he pleads with my father, and that he is his own Father's beloved Son, and that he is my brother and such a brother a brother born for adversity. No doubt can make him question. 14:1 - 15:14. We have a work to do, as great as our forefathers, and, perhaps, far greater. II. I tell thee No; Christ never called the righteous; and if he has not called thee, and if he never does call thee, thou art not elect, and thou and thy self-righteousness must be subject to the wrath of God, and cast away eternally. Sonship towards an earthly parent brings with it a host of duties, and shall the Everlasting Father be unregarded? Oh! This, then is God's great remedy for sin: "It is Christ that died.". In referring to the issue of servitude to sin ( katakrima ), Paul has reference to the problem discussed in the previous chapter and in 5:12-21. The lad draws the bow: ay, but it is quite as much his father, too. Little did they know that they had already what they asked for for all the church is now at the right hand of the Father; all the church is now raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. "Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee," and "by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." So in regard to God. Report of Visitor from the Sunday School Union (Lambeth Auxiliary). They are waiting till their Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the trump of the archangel, and the voice of God; then shall their bodies rise, then shall the world be judged; then shall the righteous be divided from the wicked; and then, upstreaming in marvellous procession, leading captivity captive for the last time, the Prince at their head, the whole of the blood-washed host, wearing their white robes, and bearing their palms of victory, shall march up to their crowns and to their thrones, to reign for ever and ever! and he casts his eyes to heaven. His works bore witness of him. First, God predestinates us to be like Jesus that his dear Son might be the first of a new order of beings, elevated above all other creatures, and nearer to God than any other existences. You know the contrast in the speech between different persons concerning this doctrine. Tell the men of the world that it is right that they condemn you for all your past life, for doubtless you have been what they say you are, you will not dispute that fact; but tell them also that what Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth is true of you, "Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." We are saved by hope. It is a fact which any man must be a fool who would dare to deny that God does give to one man more grace shall to another; we cannot account for the salvation of one and the non-salvation of another but by believing, that God has worked more effectually in one man's heart than another's unless you choose to give the honor to man, and say it consists in one man's being better than another, and if so I will have no argument with you, because you do not know the gospel at all, or you would know that salvation is not of works but of grace. Sometimes a bow of steel is not broken by our hands, for we cannot even bend it; and then the Holy Ghost puts his mighty hand over ours, and covers our weakness so that we draw; and lo, what splendid drawing of the bow it is them! He was consecrated to God; so are we to be. Is he a King? "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands," poured out water, and began to wash his disciples' feet, and then went, with full knowledge of all that was before him, to pour out his blood to wash their souls from guilt. iniquity for which words fail in description! he says, "I had rather be a bankrupt in business than I would be a bankrupt in grace; let my fortune be decreased better that, than that I should backslide; there! Again; how many a man is there who says, "I want such-and-such a luxury; I know the cause of God demands of me more than I give it, but I must have that luxury, that shilling shall go to myself, and not to God." I can look back at the past, and wonder at all the way whereby the Lord hath led me. I, too, am persuaded by a thousand arguments, and persuaded beyond all question, that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You believe that all things will in the end work for your good. This poor man knows very little about law, and is quite unable to meet his cunning opponent. It is true that God is great, but he cannot ask for more than divine righteousness, and in Christ I present that. Then after you had heard what the natural religion of man is, I would ask what must his irreligion be? you shall not be uncrowned. He was a man of many trials; he went from one tribulation to another for Christ's sake; he swam through many seas of affliction to serve the church. This counsellor would suggest the line of pleading, arrange the arguments, and put them into right courtly language. As a Son he served his Father, you could see the nature of God in him, in his deep sympathy with God and in his exact imitation of God. It is astonishing how much gratitude a man will feel to you if you have been only the instrument of doing him good; but how little gratitude he feels to God, the first cause of all! Both the sinner and the Surety are now free. If all things work together for good (all events, all circumstances, all trials, all happenings, etc. There is the worldling's sense: "Who will show us any good?" Say, "I count it to be my joy to be permitted to be a partaker of the sufferings of Christ. Why will you inflict more sorrow on yourself than God indicts? And oh, would you be ashamed to die for Christ; methinks, if you are what you should be, you will glory in tribulations also, and count it sweet to suffer for Christ. Cry mightily to the Holy Spirit to continue his sanctifying work upon you; beseech him not to be grieved and vexed, and, therefore, in any measure to stay his hand. and by that was meant, that what'er his people owed was wiped away for ever from the book of remembrance. A Christian's experience is like a rainbow, made up of drops of the griefs of earth, and beams of the bliss of heaven. I look on them, and see among their glorious ranks, some whose names are celebrated in every Christian land as the bold "lions of God," the immovable pillars of truth; men of whom the world was not worthy, whose praise is in all the churches, and who are now nearest the eternal throne. If we have to toil, let us remember, this is the world's week of toil. What a sin it is! We are not at liberty to give or to refuse. THE APOSTLE PAUL was writing to a tried and afflicted people, and one of his objects was to remind them of the rivers of comfort which were flowing near at hand. "There are 400 youths," says he, "in Rome as brave as I am, and that will bear fire as well; and tyrant," he says "you will surely die."" Ah! Abel, the protomartyr, entering alone into heaven, shall not have a more secure title to the inheritance than he who, last of woman born, shall trust in Christ, and then ascend into his glory. Would you have your Master's throne, but not his temptation in the wilderness? Now, I am not sure that the doctor is perfectly right. Then our spirit beareth witness that we are the children of God. But what is the conflagration of a distant planet, what is the destruction of the mere material of the most ponderous orb, compared with this fall of humanity, this wreck of all that is holy and sacred in ourselves? But let me say again to thee, hast thou ever felt that the Holy Ghost has borne witness with thy spirit in his word, and in his work, in thee; and in that secret whisper has he ever said to thee, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Spurgeon's Bible Commentary Romans 8:28-39 Romans 8:28. And are we not debtors to them? The sighing of a true heart is infinitely more acceptable, for it is the work of the Spirit of God. I feel that to the knee that dandled me and the breast that gave me sustenance, I owe more than I can ever pay; and to him who taught me, and led me in the paths of truth I owe so much, that I dare not speak of the tremendous weight of obligation due to him. I was reading a passage by Dr. Chalmers the other day, in which he says, that his own experience did not lead him to believe that the Holy Spirit ever gave any witness of our being the children of God, apart from the written Word of God, and his ordinary workings in our hearts. Conscience, truly answer! The text says, "we groan." I know the world turns this into ridicule and says, "That the hypocrite loves persecution;" no, not the hypocrite, but the true believer; he feels that though the suffering must ever be painful, yet for Christ's sake, it becomes so glorious that the pain is all forgotten. In this way "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Paul has, in this case, only one answer to the question, "Who is he that condemneth?" You may come on, battalions of the adversary, with all your terrible might sweeping hypocrites and deceivers before you, like chaff before the wind, but as many as are linked to Christ by his eternal love shall stand firm against you, like the solid rocks against the billows of the sea." By Vernon J. Charlesworth. The greatest faith is only what God has a right to expect from us, yet do we never exhibit it except as the Holy Ghost strengthens our confidence, and opens up before us the covenant with all its seals and securities. Why he is going fast onward in his mad career. They are lambs in the harmlessness of their dispositions, but they have the courage of lions when they defend the honours of their King. There stands the believer, and looking round on the assembled universe of men and angels, he cries, "Who shall lay anything to my charge?" I will now proclaim to you the way of salvation. If it were some little thing, my narrow capacity could comprehend and describe it, but I need all covenant blessings. Would you believe it, that the man whom Christ intends to call is the worst man in Jericho the extortioner? Now, brethren, in the very proportion in which we are conformed to the image of Christ we shall have to "go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach:" for the disciple, if he be a true disciple, is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. Our text begins by the expression, "Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate," and many senses have been given to this word "foreknow" though in this case one commends itself beyond every other. There were no obedient creatures in the world of that sort, knowing good and evil, in the days of Eden's glory. So live, so act, ye sons of God, that the world may say of you, "Yes, these men bring forth the fruits of God; they are like their Father; they honour his name; they are indeed filled with his grace, for their every word is as true as his oath; their every act is sincere and upright; their heart is kind, their spirit is gentle; they are firm but yet they are generous; they are strict in their integrity, but they are loving in their souls; they are men who, like God, are full of love; but like him are severely just. God that cannot lie, in the person of the Holy Ghost, graciously condescendeth to say "Amen" to the testimony of our conscience. Conceive the beauties of the risen Redeemer. You read your Bible in early youth, and you went astray with a vengeance; for when you sinned, you knew that you were sinning, and yet you transgressed." The words which Jesus uses are various in different cases. The pinch of faith always lies in the present tense. Now, God will one day change our bodies and make them fit for our souls, and then he will change this world itself. So shall we when his Father shall say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" Look! If so, methinks your heart is not in a right state. While you shall for awhile sigh for more of heaven, you shall soon come to the abodes of blessedness where sighing and sorrow shall flee away. Here are two sorts of children, therefore all are not the children of God. He begins thus "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Look at his gore, as it distils from his body in Gethsemane and on the accursed tree. It is impossible! Inasmuch as we are of the seed of the woman, there must be enmity between us and the seed of the serpent. You and I are free, but what is our liberty? Series (High Quality) Series (Low Quality) Buy CD Album This sermon series includes the following 12 messages: The Spirit Takes Us from Sin to Righteousness Romans 8:1-11 Apr 24 1983 45-57 Audio "All things work together for good." There are e'en stronger arguments for the non-condemnation of the believer in the resurrection of Christ than in his precious death and burial. WE have here the description of a true Christian, and a declaration of that Christian's blessedness. If they drink but little from the river of pleasure, his draughts must be shallow too, for their joy is his joy, and his glory he has given them. So that though I said the drift of the text was spiritual good, yet sometimes in the main current there may be carried some rich and rare temporal benefits for God's children as well as the richer spiritual blessings. The mass of men are all in uncertainty; they do not know what will become of them at last. 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